Friday, February 25, 2011

A long long time ago in a land called Facebook, I stuck my big toe into the blog pool. I wanted to test the waters amongst my friends so that they could critique me and give me confidence or a big thumbs down. So I wrote stuff and then actually sent it to them until I gained the courage to go big or go home.Lately I've been very busy with my art, kid and everything else and honestly, I'm experiencing Blog Block. So just to keep you people involved with me and to keep the Blog Gods happy, I've decided to create "Flash Back Friday's" and take from my fb archive blog and enter them here...because I can....it's my blog..and if I have time, I will write an updated commentary on it...enjoy or not~

Bye Bye Birdie

Those Freakin' Mockingbirds are at it again!

Why do the neighborhood mockingbirds sing at 4:30 am? I guess Eric had enough of the symphony in the wee hours of the morning. This morning when I came down stairs, I walked into the den and Eric was sitting in the recliner with a smug smile on his face. He asked me,"how'd you sleep'? He has asked me that almost everyday for years so I thought nothing of it until.. he started laughing. Puzzled I asked "OK, what did you do"? He responded, "I shot the bird and I'm going to Hell." What Happened I asked. Well, apparently at dawn he was awaken by our little feathered friend and couldn't go back to sleep, so what does he do....he throws on his robe, finds the Bebe gun(I don't even want to know where it is) and steps outside into the patio. He scopes the skies and there it is. This singing mockingbird is perched on a wire above our storage shed in the back right hand corner of our yard. He sneaks around the shed ( I'm imagining a ninja) positions himself right under it and "BAM", the first shot hit and the bird went down into the neighbors Ivy.

Let me tell you how much I hated these birds. Honestly, I don't care for birds to begin with, but mockingbirds that are out of control are the worst. We have lived here for a bout 14 years and in all that time those damn birds have been out of sync 2 or 3 times. Singing and whistling and carrying on at all hours of the night. It drove us crazy and yes, Eric has sworn to avenge the birds from time to time.

But I was shocked. When he told me, part of me couldn't believe it. I was mortified. The other part was glad....now we can sleep. I still don't know what to think. . It's kinda creepy thinking that a dead bird is in the neighbors bushed because we ( yes I said we, cause I kinda feel part of this too) were selfish and thought that snuffing out a life, although a little birdie life, would make our life a little more comfy. We have Mockingbird blood on our hands! Am I thinking too much? Magnifying it? It's just a bird...one of a gazillion for christ sake! But what if this bird was a mommy bird and had babies? OK, now the babies are gonna die and the thought of that....well, I will try not to think of that. I don't know....Eric has hunted down crickets in the middle of the night too because of lack of sleep. When I questioned him more, he tells me that when he was a kid and at his Uncle's Farm, they shot at birds all the time. Seeing this little scenario kinda makes it clear on how important we value our sleep. It's all about sleep , but then, a bird is dead....sleeping with the fishes so to speak.

Later on I ask him "do you feel bad because you killed a bird? His response...No, why...do you? Well, yes, even though I personally didn't pull the trigger. He laughed thinking this was funny. I believe in Karma I tell him. If I do good, if I help people and make good choices and if I give off good positive energy, then good energy will come to me. I truly believe that....but I think I just took 2 large steps back.

Five hours later, I get in my car on this gorgeous day, ready to run a few errands, I reach for my slammin jam CD that Raquel burned for me and put it in my CD player. Well, it's not workin'. Maybe it's the CD it's self. I reach for my other slammin CD that was purchased from Best Buy....doesn't work. Oh man..my CD player worked yesterday....what happened? .Karma, right? Tomorrow I going to help old ladies cross the street and do whatever else it takes, cuz I am NOT going to Hell.

Update....I didn't go to hell unless you count sitting through Hell Boy II Hell and the Mockingbirds haven't been off since but we expect them to be any time now. Now we are dealing with stray cats....spraying and singing love songs...Uggg!!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Raquel is up to her usual shenanigans with the FFA and their livestock. She is currently pioneering the Dairy Goat Program at her school and has successfully bred, raised and cared for 2 milking goats...sisters Zanzibar and Asha.

Last Monday, Valentines Day, after Raquel and a few chosen friends camped out at the school farm all weekend, Zanizibar's kids were born. Diana, the goat angel that loaned out the goats and Raquel, assisted in the birth, which took roughly 3 hours.

Raquel and Zanzibar before Valentines Day

Baby boy #1

and baby boy #2...hiding behind momma

and the both of them together with their mommy. They look like little calves because of their coloring. Raquel was so happy and proud and this whole week was spent having lunch with her boys...sitting in the pen and just hangin' out.

So Congrats to Raquel and Congrats to me, although I would still welcome a grand daughter at some point...I'm Just Sayin'

...btw, this guy (smalls) is still around weighing in at about 1,000 lbs and is coming along nicely thank you~

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

You might remember that I was trying to read whatever Raquel was reading in her junior year last year and I did pretty good, but this year is a different story, pun totally intended.Seems she's read a couple of book that the library had on hand and when the assignment was over, she had to give them back. Although I will wait for the next classic, I have acquired a few books of my own.

I just finished " Life" written by Keith Richards and yes surprise surprise he's still alive to tell his story. Although I am a Rolling Stone fan, having seen them once in concert and own a couple of CDs, I am more interested in their life than their music...particularly Keith's life.Ya know, the bad boy of rock and roll, the dangerous and mysterious one with either a ciggy hangin' from his guitar or mouth as he played lead with the notorious Stones.

First of all, I was under the assumption that he was too stoned to write a book so I was curious as to what he was gonna write....wrong! He's been clean for over 30 years...he just looks like death warmed over. And with me assuming that he's not in his right mind, I was wondering how he was going to remember anything...wrong again! He remembers everything, from his boyhood days to what clothes he wore on what day to song writing and everything in between. I was pleasantly surprised and a yes, a lot shocked at some of his antics and although I did expect some naughtiness, I'm am shocked to say the least, that this cat is still alive....btw, he's shocked too!

Some interesting facts....He's an only child, been married twice, the 2nd time over 30 years, had 5 children, 1 died of crib death, broken numerous bones and the most interesting fact to me....he and mick Jagger have written 99% of their music. Now why did I think that someone else wrote all those Classic Stone songs? Maybe because I assumed Keith Richards was either, too stoned or too drunk or just plain incompetent to write lyrics.....Boy was I wrong! He's pretty much a very intelligen guy. He taught himself how to play guitar at age 9 and started writing music in his early teens. He and Mick, when they're talking to each other, have co written almost every Stone song since day one. He's bright, witty and very articulate and a romantic as he also didn't sleep around so much as you would think....hmmmm, he likes to cuddle....lol

So I guess it's true when people say, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" We shall see, I am now reading "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama. Yeah, I know, I went from the ridicules to the sublime...lol I'm just Sayin'